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TURN BACK TO GOD
Last Saturday, August 28, Glenn Beck, the Fox broadcaster, held his much-heralded event in Washington on the Mall. He says that choosing the 47th anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King was an accident on his part. He claims that he did not know that on August 28, 1963…
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SEND IN THE CLOWNS
Steven Sondheim is a magnificent composer of music. A few years back he wrote a Broadway play called “A Little Night Music.” The most prominent song in the play “A Little Night Music” is called “Send in the Clowns.” I will not bother you with the full lyrics but I must tell you that the…
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Thanksgiving 2010
The title to this essay has underlining under the date of 2010. This is to distinguish it from an essay that was written here four years ago called “Thanksgiving 2006.” Since that essay of four years ago was written, there have been some encouraging developments. The players in this essay are Jenny M and her…
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PURGATORY POLITICS
As a general principle, I try to avoid writing about religious matters because my views on that subject are well known. Simply put, I am a non-believer. But in the past week or so, I almost became a believer. There was a development that simply had to be commented upon, which is the subject of…
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PUTTING A PRESIDENTIAL FOOT IN IT
Yesterday was August 22, 2010. In the op ed column of The New York Times, there were great editorials from Frank Rich, Tom Friedman, Maureen Dowd, and Nicholas Kristof. In addition to those columnists, there were essays in The Washington Post. The reason that these essays and editorial comments were written has to do with…
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“…SMILING BASTARDS…”
Curiously, the oil spill by British Petroleum in the Gulf of Mexico brings to mind the fate of the Mary Ellen Carter. That boat was Irish and presumably it served in the fishing trade. According to the song, as it approached its harbor the captain was drunk and the ship hit a rock and sank. …
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PREACHERS
The basic question that this essay proposes is “Where are the preachers now that you need them?” According to news accounts, we are now into the seventy-seventh day of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Pious pilgrims, such as myself, have searched for answers. We have made inquiries along ecclesiastical lines but…
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PLEASE, GIVE ME A VOTE
I suspect that everyone who has attained the Methuselah-like age of 80 may well have given thought to his or her own departure. I don’t dwell on that subject but I am quite aware that it exists. Again, I suspect that the dying part is not the major consideration. It is the preliminaries of extended…
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REFUDIATE
The Duchess of Alaska, Sarah Palin, had a pronouncement over the past weekend. On two occasions, which were recorded in newscasts, Sarah used the word “refudiate.” When she was asked to explain what “refudiate” meant, she said that William Shakespeare made up new words at various times in his career. Those of us in the…